One day, some children were playing hide-and-seek（捉迷藏）happily. In front of the  31  , Jim found the door of the letter box was   32   and climbed in. He   33 closed the door. When he knew   34  he had locked himself in it, he began to  35  help, but nobody could   36  . He was  37  and began to cry. At that time, his sister was   38  for him. She happened to hear him. She , of course, wasn’t able to open it.
　　When the  39  helped him out, he couldn’t keep back his tears. He had been in the box for nearly an hour.
　“Don’t forget  40  a stamp on yourself next time,” said the postman.

Thinking is something you choose to do as a fish chooses to live in water. To be human is to think. But thinking may come naturally without your knowing how you do it. Thinking about drinking is the key to critical（判斷性的）thinking. When you think critically, you take control of your thinking processes. Otherwise, you might be controlled by the ideas of others．Indeed, critical thinking is at the heart of education.

The word “critical” here has a special meaning. It does not mean taking one view against another view, as when someone criticizes another person for doing something wrong. The nature of critical thinking is thinking beyond the easily seen-beyond the pictures on TV, the untrue reports in the newspapers, and the incorrect reasoning.

Critical thinking is an attitude（態(tài)度）as much as an activity. If you are curious about life and desire to dig deeper（希望深挖）into it, you are a critical thinker. If you find pleasure in deep thinking about different ideas, characters, and facts, you are a critical thinker.

Activities of the mind and higher-order reasoning（高階推理）are processes of deep and careful consideration. They take time, and do not go hand in hand with the fast speed in today’s world: fast foods, instant coffee, and self-developing film. If you are among the people who believe that speed is a measure of intelligence（智力）, you may learn something new from a story about Albert Einstein. The first time Banesh Hoffman, a scientist, was to discuss his work with Albert Einstein. Hoffman was too nervous to speak. But Einstein immediately put Hoffman at ease by saying, “Please go slowly. I don’t understand things quickly.”

34. Critical thinking is important to us because if we do not think critically, __________.

A. it will be hard for us to think naturally and fast

B. we might be controlled by other people’s ideas

C. we will follow the ideas of others naturally

D. we might be footed by other people’s ideas

35. If you are a critical thinker, you will __________.

A. think deeply about different ideas                B. trust the reports in the newspapers

C. take one view against another view             D. criticize other people for their mistakes

36. In the last paragraph, “something new” suggests that__________.

A. the smarter you are, the faster you do things  

B. the faster you do things, the smarter you become

C. speed can improve intelligence             

D. intelligence is not decided by speed

37. What would be the best title for the passage? 

A. Thinking and Critical Thinking.   　　     B. Understanding Critical Thinking.

C. Thinking Is Natural and Human.  　　     D. Thinking Fast Means Intelligence.

In England nobody under eighteen years old is allowed (允許) to drink in a bar (酒吧)．

Mr. Thompson often went to a bar near his house．But he never took his son, Tom, because he was too young．Then when Tom had his eighteenth birthday, Mr. Thompson took him to his usual bar for the first time．They drank for an hour．Tom drank a bit．Then Mr. Thompson said to his son, “Now, Tom, I want to teach you a useful（有用的） lesson．How do you know when you’ve had enough（足夠的）? Well, I’ll tell you．Do you see those two lights（燈） at the end of the bar? When they seem（好象） to become four, you’ve had enough and should（應(yīng)該） go home．”

“But, Dad,” said Tom, “I can only see one light at the end of the bar．”

31. Young people ______ allowed to drink in a bar until eighteen．

A. is not        B．a(chǎn)re not       C．many      D．must

32. When Tom was a child, his father often went to a nearby bar_____ taking him．

A. by           B．for          C．with      D．without

33. On Tom’s eighteenth birthday, he drank together with his father in that bar

for______.   

A．the first time           B．once      C．many times            D．eighteen times

34. Father wanted to tell his son ______．

A. the time to drink          B．something about the light

C. when to stop drinking     D．something about the bar

35. In fact (事實上), there ______ at the end of the bar．

A. was one light      B．were two lights    C. were three lights      D．were four lights

Mike didn’t do his English homework. The teacher asked him    31  . “I’m sorry, I   32  .” “But why did you forget?” “It didn’t seem   33   or important,” said Mike. “Are you going to punish (懲罰)me?” asked Mike. “   34  . The punishment is for me. I didn’t teach you well,” said the teacher.

“Thank you,” said Mike. “You are the best    35  in the world. I can never know as much as you , but you taught me a lot.” “How can I be a good teacher if the students do not know more than me? I will not succeed until that happens,”   36  the teacher.

Mike’s   37   teacher was a strict（嚴(yán)厲的） man.. Every day Mike played the same piece of music,and the teacher said it was not good and he must practise   38  . After two years of hard work, Mike left and felt sad.   39  when he played it in public, everyone said it was perfect, and he found he could play other pieces of music easily.   

What do you think of these two   40  ?